Herman Hans Wetzler, a post-romantic German composer is represented
on this CPO release by two of his extensive orchestral works
- Visions op. 12 (1923) and Assisi, Legend for Orchestra, Op.
13 (1925).

Wetzler was born in Frankfurt, Germany and lived most of his
life in Germany, Switzerland or the United States. His musical
education took place mostly in Frankfurt and included lessons
with Humperdinck - perhaps even Clara Schumann. In 1892 while
in New York City, he took on various musical roles and even established
his own orchestra, the Wetzler Symphony. Richard Strauss premiered
his Sinfonia domestica at a Wetzler-sponsored concert
in 1904. Wetzler returned to Germany in 1905 to pursue a conducting
career which never really took off but did produce brief stints
in such places as Riga, Lübeck and Cologne, where he conducted
alongside Otto Klemperer. From 1929 to 1940, he lived in Switzerland
and after 1940, moved back to New York City where he died in
1943.
Visions is scored for a large Wagnerian-size orchestra
and consists of six small tone poems: Introduction; Adagio (inspired
by a Michelangelo sonnet); Scherzo demoniaco; Intermezzo
ironico; Fugato and Risonanza estrema. Some of the
musical styles and highlights include a Stravinsky-influenced Introduction,
a very tranquil Adagio where the world of Wagner’s Tristan meets
the dreamy passages in Richard Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben, Don
Juan and the Alpensinfonie. The Scherzo demoniaco centers
on the figure of Charon from Dante’s Inferno - Wetzler
himself outlined the themes behind Visionen - and the
music inhabits the sound-world of Strauss, Wagner as well Respighi
and Dukas. I detect even hints of cinematic music à la
Korngold and Hermann. The Intermezzo is full of Gallic
touches sprinkled with echoes of Manuel de Falla’s Spanish
landscape music and an “oriental” segment reminiscent
of Puccini’s Turandot. The Fugato is full of bustling
string energy and once again we are not far away from Strauss’s Till
Eulenspiegel. The Risonanza that concludes the work
comes close to Wagner’s Parsifal and is like an
arch, slowly building to a rousing fortissimo at 5.08, with some
themes from the previous Adagio also being recycled. This
is followed by a return to the opening with a serene and peaceful
ending. The visions have ceased.
Assisi, Legends for Orchestra is also in six movements
and is a musical portrait of the climb on Easter Sunday by St.
Francis; Wetzler had visited the Ereme delle Carceri monastery
and was moved by his stay. Einsamkeit (Solitude) is a
musical description of St. Francis’s deep thoughts and
the piece is scored largely for strings and low woodwinds. It
has a polyphonic, dense structure. The notes refer to the movement
as being “reminiscent of Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht” -
to my ears it is still Strauss/Wagner type string textures. Trauerglocken (Mourning
Bells) is strong music with martial overtones and prominent parts
for bells, snare-drums and other percussion. The next two pieces, Ostermorgen (Easter
Morning) and Vogelpredigt (Sermon to the Birds), form
the main part of the work. Musical nature-painting motifs envelop
the two movements. Ostermorgen is reminiscent of Forest
Murmurs from Wagner’s Siegfried, with solo violin
and flute playing a woodland “pas de deux”. The solo
cello represents St. Francis and once again woodwinds (mostly
flutes) take the part of the birds; the music is far removed
from the world of Messiaen and closer to Liszt’s Legends.
The Schwester Sonne (Sister Sun) movement reminded me
of Respighi’s Pines/Fountains as well Strauss’s Alpensinfonie and
Wagner’s Das Rheingold with a shattering fortissimo
at 1:10. Bruder Tod (Brother Death) harks back to the
opening Solitude movement and has passages like Siegfried’s
Tod from Götterdämmerung.

The playing by the Robert Schumann Philharmonic is impressive
- assured, weighty, engaging and thoroughly in with the music
thanks most likely to maestro Frank Beermann - expect to see
more from them this year in anticipation of the 200th anniversary
of Robert Schumann’s birth in 1810.

Informative booklet notes on Wetzler’s life and music are
by Heinrich Aerni. The recording is lifelike with ample bloom
and detail around the instruments - I was impressed by the vivid
percussion segments in both pieces. CPO needs to be commended
for supporting such repertoire and kudos to all concerned.

If you want to hear post-romantic music cut more or less from
the same cloth as the tone poems of Richard Strauss, late Wagner
with sprinkles of Respighi, Dukas, Magnard (perhaps even Alfvén,
Bax and Bridge) and early Stravinsky, then look no further. Musically
he is very similar to the other German post-romantic composer,
Ernst Boehe, whose massive 85 minute Odysseus cycle across
two discs is also available from CPO. A splendid discovery for
those with a keen ear for the byways of the post-romantic and
early 20th century tonal orchestral world.

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